My Favorite Salsa For Canning Recipe with Step-by-Step Tutorial

Learn how to make an easy and flavorful salsa for canning that’s safe, uses all-natural ingredients, and is thicker than typical canned salsas. It’s our family’s favorite!

Our family LOVES salsa – if we don’t eat it everyday, at least I think it’s safe to say we eat it every other day. So of course I would want to make our own salsa for canning from the garden tomatoes, peppers, and onions we grow. It took a number of years, though, to find a safe salsa recipe that was “the one.”

When I finally did find my favorite salsa for canning, there was no going back – every August and September I make enough batches to see us through to the next season. Store-bought canned salsa can’t hold a candle to this!

Finding a Salsa Recipe to Can

The one thing I learned when teaching myself to can salsa was that in order to use a water-bath canner to make salsa shelf stable, it’s important to use a recipe from a trusted source that uses USDA guidelines. This is because there are so many low-acid ingredients in salsa (peppers, onions, and garlic) that it creates a delicate balance between the acid (tomatoes and usually another ingredient like vinegar or lemon juice) and the low-acid ingredients.

So I started testing recipes from a Kerr canning book, the Ball Blue Book, the Oregonian newspaper, and some preserving books from the library that all used safe guidelines. While they all had good flavor (I was using wonderful produce, after all!), they were usually really watery and/or vinegary. Boo.

I think others felt the same way, because a recipe soon appeared on the USDA website for a Tomato-Tomato Paste Salsa.It called for two 12-oz cans of tomato paste and 2 cups bottled lemon juice instead of vinegar, which produced a thick sauce and minus the overly vinegar taste.

Sadly, my search for the best recipe wasn’t at an end, though. We found that the salsa wasn’t very spicy and when I took the time to look at the ingredients of bottled lemon juice (it must be bottled – fresh lemon juice doesn’t have the consistent acid level for canning) I saw that it’s full of preservatives! Great. I’ve got all these organically grown vegetables and I’m adding preservatives. Double boo.

The Best Recipe

I continued looking for the perfect canned salsa recipe and finally found the one that is now our favorite in a book from the library that published only tested recipes (I wish I had the title, but I just copied the recipe all those years ago before blogging). It used just one small can of tomato paste and only 3/4 cup of vinegar, so it’s still thick and the vinegar doesn’t overpower the flavor. (NOTE: according to the USDA, it is safe to substitute bottled lemon juice for the vinegar in this recipe if you wish, but NOT the other way – it is not safe to substitute vinegar for lemon juice in other recipes, since lemon is more acidic than vinegar.)

I did adapt the recipe it by increasing the peppers by 1/2 cup, and then decreasing the onion by a 1/2 cup to keep the recipe in balance. This makes the salsa a bit more spicy, which we like. I also added a few more dry seasonings which is okay to change in canning recipes since it doesn’t affect acidity.

This salsa is really easy – the majority of time is spent prepping the ingredients, though a food processor makes it quicker. It cooks for only 30 minutes, which gives you just the right amount of time to get all the canning equipment in order and jars cleaned. Perfect, right?

Salsa for Canning Tutorial

Start with 5-6 pounds of washed tomatoes. I use about 1/2 slicing tomatoes and 1/2 paste tomatoes- the slicers have some of that great flavor and the paste tomatoes add thickness, so I like to include both.

Major Update! I now just core and quarter the tomatoes and use the food processor to chop them– peel and all! I can’t tell in the finished salsa and it goes much quicker now. Awesome.

You can, of course, still coarsely chop peeled tomatoes by hand – measure them into a bowl until you’ve got 7 cups.

OR use a food processor like I do now as described here and pour from the processor to measure 7 cups. There are both large and small tomato chunks since the processor isn’t perfect, which is fine with me.

If hand-chopping tomatoes, you can drain any water that accumulates while cutting them, which helps make a thicker salsa. However, this doesn’t work with the quicker processing method, so the resulting salsa is a bit thinner, but the savings in time totally makes up for it, in my opinion.

However you cut your tomatoes, once you have 7 cups, place them in a large stockpot.

Okay, you’ll want to break out gloves for this next step. Trust me, you will want gloves for this part. The one time I didn’t use them I couldn’t sleep that night because of the burning sensation in my hands that no amount of washing could remove!

Once you’re gloved up, cut in half and seed enough anaheim chilies to equal 1 cup chopped. You can use other mild, long green chilies or even add some sweet peppers if you’d like. It’s okay to can change the variety of peppers, just not the total amount.

Note on the photos: I was doubling the recipe when taking these photos, so there is more in each one than a single batch would call for – so yes, you can double the recipe!

You can simply cut the peppers in large chunks and put them in a food processor to do the rest, or chop them by hand. I like the way the processor chops them mostly fine, but also leaves a few larger pieces so that there are some peppers in every spoonful.

Once chopped and measured, put the peppers in the stockpot with the tomatoes.

Then chop jalapeno peppers to equal 1/2 cup, seeding if desired (leaving the seeds will result in a spicer salsa). Add them to the stockpot.

TIP: if you want a milder salsa, you can skip the jalapenos and use 1-1/2 cups of milder peppers. If you’d like it spicier, decrease the mild peppers to 3/4 cup and increase the jalapeños to 3/4 cup. You can play around with the types of peppers you like best, just not the amount – a total of 1-1/2 cups of peppers for one batch is the limit for safety.

Peel and quarter the onions, chopping enough to equal 1 cup, either by hand or in a food processor and add to the pot.

Mince 3 cloves of garlic. You can throw them in the processor, too. (Yes, there are 6 cloves here. I’m not throwing caution to the wind, remember I’m doubling the recipe, in order to get 10 to 11 pints out of each canning session.)

Once the garlic is in the pot, add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and boil gently for 30 minutes. Stir often, making sure it doesn’t burn on the bottom (TIP: cheap, thin-bottomed stock pots tend to burn, but thicker-bottomed pots don’t – it’s worth it to pay a few dollars more. #lessonlearned).

After 30 minutes, the salsa will have cooked down, looking nice and salsa-y, with flavors all melded into yummy goodness.

You can taste it at this point to see how spicy it is (every year my peppers are different, depending on our summer weather) and add cayenne pepper if you’d like to increase the spiciness (again, dry ingredients are fine to add – you just can’t add anything else fresh).

Fill pint jars with salsa leaving a 1/2-inch headspace, attach lids and place in canner. Bring to a boil and process pint jars for 20 minutes. Remove from canner, cool completely, check seals, label and store in a dark, cool pantry for a year to a year and a half.

Click the arrow for the full printable salsa for canning recipe!

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About Jami

Jami Boys is an author, blogger, and imperfect do-it-yourselfer who lives in the green, lovely, and often rainy Pacific Northwest with her husband and two children. Her passion is to help others enjoy life & embrace simplicity through whole-food recipes, easy DIY projects, and do-able gardening.

I made this recipe and canned it today. I pretty much followed the recipe except that I put in 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (and left out a little bit of the onion and jalapeno, about 1/4 worth). Instead of cayenne pepper, I put in a finely chopped cayenne pepper since I had so many from my garden. My tomatoes were not Roma and were pretty juicy. Result: Very Hot!!! (so maybe a whole cayenne pepper was too much??), and only made 3 1/2 pints (I realize results can vary, and my tomatoes probably cooked down quite a lot). All in all, very tasty! PS: Thanks for reminding people to wear rubber gloves when handling hot peppers! I will probably try this again with the other variety of tomatoes that I grew this summer, Russian Black (the ones I use today are called Stupice).

Yes, I get 4-5 pints normally, though it does seem to depend on if I’m exact with the tomato measurements. For example, I always weigh them first and then cut and core – maybe I’m losing more flesh when I seed them, or having to cut some spots off. Then after processing if I’m 1/2 cup or so more than the measured amount, I throw them in, since the tomatoes are the acidic veggie and so more can be added. Lots of variables when canning!

Hello, Love the salsa recipe. Just curious if I could change the amount of time to cook. I like it chunkier and it seems like it was the consistency I preferred when I first began heating. After the full time required it was much smoother than I hoped for. Nevertheless it was delicious. Please let me know. Thanks. Brigitte

It must be thoroughly heated through, so I wouldn’t do it less than 20 minutes – maybe that will be enough? You can always cut your vegetables larger so they stay through the cooking and canning process.

I’m really looking forward to trying your salsa recipe, this year is the first year I’ll be canning and there are now 2 of your recipes I’d like to try. Is it possible to replace citric acid for the vinegar in this recipes? I already plan on using the citric acid for your canned roasted tomato sauce. Thanks!

I hope you enjoy it, Katie. Unfortunately citric acid can’t be directly subbed for vinegar in salsa. There are no tested recipes for that. However you can sub bottled lemon or bottled lime juice for the vinegar (same amount) and some prefer that flavor (I think I mention that in the recipe?).

The vinegar in salsa also makes the consistency fluid enough for the heat to penetrate the bottle in the canning process. This is needed because of all the added low-acid ingredients (the peppers, onions, and garlic) – when canning tomato sauce this isn’t necessary, so the citric acid works.
Hope that makes sense!

Thank you, Jami! That explanation makes perfect sense. I’ve been researching canning a ton and the different acid types for different foods was the only thing that still had me stumped. Friends and family tease me about stressing out over botulism, but that is NOT a risk I am willing to take despite them telling me to “do it just like your grandma did, we loved her stuff” so I was very happy to come across your blog (way too many sites with recipes that are not approved). I had a huge crop of San Marzano tomatoes this year so I can’t wait to make your sauce and salsa (and my tried and true salsa for the fridge – but not to can ;).

I made this salsa exactly as the recipe stated with all home grown ingredients. I didn’t want to stray from the recipe since I spent so much effort in growing all the produce in it. There was one small exception in that I used orange peppers instead of green peppers since my green peppers were not ready to harvest. This salsa is incredible! Best I have ever tasted. My sons are salsa fanatics and they fought over the last jar! So often recipes don’t turn out to taste as one would hope but this surpassed all expectations. Plus it is so easy! I am making a double batch as we speak so I can give some to my boys to take to college with them.

Hi Jami,
Love, love,love your easy ideas for putting up and preserving fresh produce. I did send a note previously to say learning from my mom( bless her heart) was awesome, but tedious. Now, with your site, I can still do a lot of preserved foods, without all the work. That to me means the world. Thank you again,

Yes, Lori! Any canning recipe can be frozen from a safety standpoint (texture changes are the main concern), and salsa is a good choice for that. I’ve frozen leftover batches before and the only thing I’ve noticed is that it might be a bit more watery after thawing, but I just drained it a bit and we still enjoyed it.

All tomato sauces, chutneys, jams, etc. are good freezer candidates. I wouldn’t freeze pickled things, is about the only thing of my recipes I wouldn’t freeze because of texture changes.

Jami,
I made the salsa this last weekend with tomatoes from the garden about half slicers and half roma. I followed your easy method which works great for a working mom. But for some reason it turned out not very tomatoey, good spice, thickness, beautiful. I went ahead and canned it because I thought it might get better with time, and was scared to add tomato paste putting everything off balance. Were my tomatoes not ripe enough?

Not tomatoey? I’m not sure what that means, Shelley – if it was not all those things, what was it? Was it too watery, is that what you’re saying? Your tomatoes may have been too juicy? You can always squeeze the tomatoes some after quartering before adding to the processor. I’m not sure about the spice, though.

I am going to try this recipe today using roma tomatoes. I just wanted to add, most recipes call for de-seeding and squeezing out all tomato juice from the tomatoes. I have learned that you can cook down the juice and seeds, ( one year I had 2 quarts of tomato liquid …slowly cooked down to 1 half pint ) this way all my ingredients were fresh garden and not canned. The thickened tomato seed juice was so close to paste that it thickened the salsa I made. I just incorporated it into my tomatoes measurements. Trying that with your recipe. Ty

You’d have to take away some of a fresh ingredient, Lisa, to add anything else fresh. Like substitute 1/4 cup of cilantro for 1/4 c. of the onions. Another suggestion is to add cilantro when you open a jar, since cilantro is best fresh anyway.

Thanks so much for this recipe. This is my first year of canning. It’s so much fun but I still get a little nervous. Haha. I was just wondering if this recipe would still be safe if I only cooked it on the stove for a few minutes as we like our salsa a bit more chunky. I would still use the recommended processing time in the canner. Thanks.

You just want to make sure it has come to a boil so it’s thoroughly hot when adding to the jars. You may want to do the peeling and hand-chopping of the tomatoes and hand-chop the peppers and onions to be bigger, bring to a boil and then heat for 15 minutes.

I have been using your recipe for several years now. We love it!!! My husband especially. I usually can between 35-50 pints of this salsa. I grow my own tomatoes, onions, peppers, jalapenos, and garlic. Can’t wait to make some more soon. I am down to 3 jars from last year. I need to start rationing!

Hi! Thanks for posting this great salsa recipe! I have made over 40 pints this year. I have made another kind for over 20 years and wanted a change. I found where you got this recipe. It is from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, page 203. I like your version better! Thanks!

Hi Katie, the standard recommendation for home-canned foods is to use it within 1 year. That said, we have eaten salsa that’s been up to 1-1/2 years old and it was perfectly fine. I’m not as concerned with foods that have added vinegar or a natural high acid content (like fruits) – we regularly eat them at more than a year old.

Jami I am a new canner and i have been researching the 15 pints of salsa i recently canned. I did not put lemon juice in, I did not measure ingredients and I used fresh cilantro, and parsley, and then I did all this in a water bath. The more research I do, the more I think I might have to dump all this out and try again.
I would appreciate any thoughts or opinions.
Jen

You’re right, Jen, that’s not considered a safe-for-canning method. You should always use a tested recipe with measured ingredients to keep your acid-to-low-acid ratios in check (higher acid being tomatoes, lemon juice or vinegar, lower are peppers, onions, cilantro/parsley, garlic).

However, if you recently canned them, you’re okay to keep it – you don’t have to throw it away! Being improperly canned just means they can’t be stored at room temp for months and months. Just move the cans to a refrigerator for storage for a month or two. For longer storage, transfer the salsa to freezer-safe containers (leaving room to expand) and freeze. Salsa freezes well! If you have more ingredients, definitely try again using this recipe and the updates I now use in preparation if you have a food processor. 🙂

Well, I feel funny giving you advice like that since I’m not a certified expert.
Here’s what I know and I’ll let you make your own decision:
-Tomatoes have been (and still are in many places around the world) considered high-acid and are fine to can and leave on the shelf.
-I’ve met many people who’ve canned their family’s untested salsa recipes for years and never had problems.
-There haven’t been many (if at all) cases of food poisoning from home-canned tomato products, though the USDA has spent the last 30 years telling us that tomatoes are on the edge of acid now and aren’t ‘safe.’
-I err on the side of safety, since food isn’t worth it to me…BUT in this case, I’d probably save the salsa because it’s a probably perfectly fine, there’s so much of it.

However, I would probably dump it all into a pot and bring to a boil again, just to make sure, and then transfer to freezer containers and freeze.
But we each have to make our own decisions about stuff like this, so do what you feel comfortable with – and then make your next batch with a tested recipe. 🙂

You can leave it out, Lucas, it just won’t be as thick. And you can add more tomatoes, since they are higher in acid, just don’t add more low acid ingredients like onions, chilies, and herbs like cilantro.

I just made this recipe, but halved it. Now I’m kinda freaked about the vinegar I added and if it’s enough. I had 5 cups of tomatoes, 1/2 onion, 1 jalepenos , and 6 ounces of the canned paste. I added 1/3 cup white wine vinegar ( all I had) and a squirt of lime juice.
Help… Do you think it’s okay the ratio ? It tastes good. But I’m not sure about keeping on the pantry shelf.

Salsa very rarely causes problems or spoils (and I’ve known people to ‘create’ their own canned recipes that are WAY out of balance), so no cause for freaking out, Christina! That said, I always like to err on the side of safety, which is why I talk about it and do my best to make sure my recipes are safe. Your ratios sound okay (and any type of vinegar is fine, as long as it’s 5% acidity), since you use more tomatoes which are higher acid and less low-acid things like onion and peppers (did you add garlic?) and your ingredients are all less than half to match your vinegar, so go ahead and enjoy your salsa. 🙂

Thank you for your quick reply. I checked the vinegar bottle and it was 5% .
I did add 2 cloves of garlic using a garlic press. I think we will use these quickly and then use your full recipe for the next batch!!!
Thanks again!!

Fresh cilantro would decrease the acidity, Rose, so I’d be careful – maybe 1/4 c. but then decrease the onions or peppers by a couple tablespoons or increase the vinegar by a tablespoon? I like to play it safe – I know many people can salsa that’s full of fresh ingredients, but food is just not worth playing with for me, so I try to go by the book. Personally, if we want cilantro, we add it when we use it – it tastes fresher then, too. 🙂

Thank you so much for sharing such a GOOD recipe! I just made it today and it is yummy! I did, however, swap out the jalapenos for Serrano peppers because that is all I had in my garden. I also swapped out cayenne peppers for ancho chile pepper. I do have a question. I noticed some air pockets and wondered if you ever had an issue with that. I wondered if I somehow made it too thick. I used roma tomatoes. Thank you, again!

GREAT salsa recipe. My first time making salsa from my own tomatos and peppers, read many different recipes online and in books, decided to try yours first. So good!! This salsa is also amazing before it’s cooked. I filled a container and put it in the fridge and then cooked, canned four pints. Just personal taste, I cut way back on jalapeños, used about two, and really let’s the taste of the tomatoas and green peppers shine. Thanks very much for sharing this!

Thanks so much for posting this and sharing your amazing recipe. I have been successfully using your recipe for a couple of years now! My husband loves this salsa! I quadrupled the recipe. I also cut back the Jalapeños!

I’m making your salsa today. Your ingredients are right on with the ingredients I use to make it fresh. The only difference for me is, I had an abundance of tomatoes this summer. I cored them and froze them whole. I just put them in my stockpot and will cook them down until the water is just about gone. I’ll use my emulsion hand blender to run through the peels. I’ll add the other ingredients after this, that way I still get a little chunkiness. I did the process yesterday with pizza sauce (canned) and used about 2 gallons of tomatoes. Turned out great.

I have made this salsa for the last several summers and we love it! This year I have a bunch of extra peaches and I was wondering if you have ever added fruit to this recipe? My understanding from the class I took through the extension service is that it is not a problem to add fruit to a salsa as it is an acidic ingredient. I just wondered if you had ever tried.

I tried this tonight. I made your recipe as written and then added several cups of peaches to the mix. My jalapenos were super spicy so I decided to add a bit of sugar (probably half a cup) to bring out a bit more of the sweetness of the peaches. It was very tasty! My understanding is that all these additions are safe since peaches are adding extra acid and the sugar is just for flavor since there is already plenty of vinegar.

Good morning, Jami. I made your salsa recipe yesterday. One batch only as still waiting on tomatoes to ripen BUT I got 11 half-pints and 1 full pint. Oh my goodness, is it wonderful and very pleasing to look at, as well! 🙂 Love the flavor and the consistency. Tho 8 jalapenos sounds like too much it really isn’t that hot – just a little tang – very nice. I do have to ask why, oh why, in reading your post did I feel impervious to the hazards jalapenos could wreak on your skin?? I ask myself that. Holy Moly – next time I read something you write I will take FULL heed. Side note: I googled and read that rubbing alcohol (among other things) can be used to help neutralize the burn, topically only, of course. Do NOT rinse it off. Again, thank you for sharing such a wonderful, yummy recipe!!

This is just what I’ve been looking for! I have only canned salsa once before, and I was disappointed that the final product turned out so thin. I have pinned this so I’ll know where to find it when tomato season rolls around.

For me and my home-grown peppers, Virginia, every year is different! Seasons where we have a lot of hot weather will make the peppers hotter and visa versa. But you can control the heat by adding less jalapenos – or leaving them out entirely and replacing them with sweet peppers.

I find I need a little more salt in my salsa…. it just wasn’t quite enough. And I omitted the cumin after the first batch, but I think that’s more personal preference. I have NEVER made a salsa with such great consistency. YUMMERS! Thanks for sharing!

Hi Jami. I was wondering if after eating the salsa all winter you are still happy with the no peel/food processor chopping? Do you not notice the peels at all? I know when I miss a few peels making other things they kind of curl up and float on top. I made this recipe last year for the first time and love it! I have also been searching for a thick recipe and was also using the oregonian recipe so I was so happy to find this one. Thanks!

My cooked salsa is similar to yours. I cook my salsa in the oven (in my deep roasting pan) at about 300 degrees and there is never a worry about scorching. Also, by cooking it in my big roaster I can make a much larger quantity.Great blog – I’ll be visiting again!

Thanks so much for your quick reply! 🙂 I wondered about fresh lemon juice too and I am leery about going against recommendations too… tho I may consider it.

The way my husband says you can tell about the peppers is if they’re ‘woody’ like with lines on them, brown lines – not bad, just lines, that means they’ve aged more and are really spicy. I don’t use those, I give them to him to eat raw. Sometimes they’re even too hot for him.

I suppose I could use those and clean them out (yes seeds/membranes!), but he likes to eat one with his meals also, so I just give those to him.

I’ve only canned 3 times so far – first time was salsa in May this year. My parents brought 30lbs of tomatoes home with them from Florida. I’ve studied a lot, but really hesitant to start sometimes, especially since I can only use water bath canners at the moment. My Mom gave me her pressure canner, but I need to get a new seal…

Given this is our first year gardening, in pots no less, our plants have not produced standard sized fruits and I’m concerned, they may not continue producing. We’ve been using the tomatoes as they’ve come in, so we’ve not been bombarded by any crops yet, though I know, it’s still early. Maybe if we move here in the next week or so, I may just put the plants right into the ground and see how they do.

Otherwise, we’ll be buying tomatoes in bulk. We’ll see! Wow, I guess I just wrote another essay for you!!! Sorry! 🙂

Pura Vida- Wow- thanks for your kind words! And your new house sounds fantastic- and such a deal. What a great opportunity (and work!). And yes, I think your idea to get the garden bed ready for next year is great- just go ahead and add some nice compost to it as you till so it can be working in the soil over the winter (under the weed-killing plastic, of course…).

If by “cleaning” the peppers you mean not taking all the seeds and membranes out- definitely leave them in if you want a hot sauce. I leave about 1/2 in, but my batches always turn out differently depending on the hotness of the peppers I’m using. I’ve not figured out a way to overcome that. 🙂

I did a lot of research about the lemon juice, and the reason for bottled is because it’s consistently about 5% acidity- fresh isn’t consistent. I’ve used organic and I’m OK with it, but I’ve not read anything OFFICIAL about it. I think if it’s consistent, it should be OK, and it’s certainly better without the preservatives. I know there are canners who use fresh lemon juice, though, and don’t think it’s a problem- but it’s just not worth it to me to go against the recommendations, though. 🙂

I absolutely LOVE your blog!!!! And now that we’ve been ‘gifted’ a home (we pay back taxes), I think I”ll be referring to it every day for the next year reviewing all your DIY stuff again!!! It was built in 1916 and no updates since then. Thankfully, but oh my!!! And it was vandalized some… so yes, we have our work cut out for us! 🙂

Your no till gardening, tho I think we’ll have to till once to make the garden bed!! If we are diligent to do it now we can plastic cover it over-winter. So, I’ve decided not to buy a tiller, just rent it – thanks to your post I came across today!! 🙂

Now to the topic at hand – I’ve had the same concerns as you, especially since my dear husband is Mexican! We loved the canned salsa I made for the first week or two, then it was too vinegary, so now I use it for stuff like zucchini squash to use it up. Haven’t tried it again because, well we don’t have enough tomatoes yet and am leery about the vinegar and how to make it spicy enough. I never thought to skimp on the onions to compensate!!!

Sorry to send you an essay – but 2 questions: do you think we could NOT clean the peppers (still skimping on onions), and use organic lemon juice? Santa Cruz makes it, but I have yet to find the ability to swallow their price… But I will when we get the tomatoes.

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